Battered Cavs Welcome Extra Rest Day as LeBron James Recovers

The 2015 NBA Finals has certainly been a more enticing affair than most would’ve thought, especially after the Cavaliers lost game 1 and superstar Kyrie Irving in what many thought would be the deciding moment in crowning a new NBA championship. However, stellar performances from LeBron James in the following games ensured that whatever the outcome will eventually be, no one can point fingers at Cleveland for not fighting when it mattered.

However, Game 4 saw the Cavaliers grounded again after the extraordinary Game 2 and 3 outings, as the Golden State Warriors blew them out at their own Quicken Loans Arena 103-82. In what was the least tight match of the series until now, Cavs fans might bring up the fact that their supergun, LeBron James, was stopped from another magnificent night after a peculiar incident which happened in the second quarter.

With about two minutes to go until half time, James collided in a paint duel with the much stronger Warriors’ Australian center Andrew Bogut, resulting in him plunging awkwardly headfirst towards the crowd. James banged his head on the lens of a photographer, cutting himself nastily in the process. Amongst all the bleeding and a seeming concussion, LeBron was never the same during the rest of the match, scoring only 20 points on 7-22 shooting, but also being close to another triple double with 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Cavs will surely appreciate the extra day off in the series before they return to the Oracle Arena for an almost decisive Game 5, especially as they have a lot to sort out: LeBron may have been fantastic for them, but he’s still human after all and those 40 minutes plus he’s played every day at full intensity coupled with the Game 4 injury might hinder some of his effort to bring Cleveland the first major sports title since 1964.

Coach Blatt is also going to have to considering countering the Warriors’ new small line-up in some way as LeBron James recovers, it having run them ragged during Game 4. Steve Kerr showed a touch of excellency when he gave ex-all star Andre Iguodala the first start of the season and benched Andrew Bogut, sending Draymond Green at the center. The Cavs were spread out way too thin as even though Stephen Curry didn’t throw in that great performance everyone was expecting, but the rest surely banked in either by 3-point shooting or by exploiting the paint of a thinned Cavs defence.